Jamie Oliver Is Still Mad Rich Despite The Demise Of His Restaurant Empire
A few months back, celeb chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant empire went into administration (a form of bankruptcy protection) for owing creditors a cool $100 million. And despite trying to revive the brand—and investing his own $15 million—all but three of the chef's eateries have closed down. And yet *somehow* Jamie is still stupid rich.
In his recent New York Times profile, Oliver opened up about closing his restaurants, namely the trendy London haunt Fifteen, which marked his foray into the industry. "That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do," he told the Times. "Just terrible. Awful."
But despite the devastating blow to his ego and wallet (remember that $15 million?), the Veg author isn't scrounging for cash. He just moved into a $7.2 million mansion in Essex and still has a luxe pad in London. According to NYT, his other ventures are still cash rolling his lifestyle. He's sold a "lifetime total" of 27 million Tefal cookware pieces, he's got kitchen gadgets all over Amazon, and he recently signed a deal with Tesco to become the grocery giant's official health ambassador.
Oh, and his books? They're a key source of income. He sold 45 million totaling $7.4 million in sales just last year, Nielsen Book Research reports.
Maybe it's his, um, wallet that makes bankruptcy blow a little easier, but Oliver is looking back on his failures as a growing opportunity. "I’ve learned a lot. I smell differently now. I see differently now. It doesn’t mean I’m cynical," he told the outlet. "I still feel I have 20 years of good work ahead of me, but I don’t have an appetite to sort of see my name all over the globe in restaurants."
A post shared by Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) on Aug 20, 2019 at 5:56am PDT
He also thinks it makes him more likable, which, fair. "You don't want somebody who's had success after success after success," he added. "You want someone like me."
You Might Also Like
